Fabulous But Frosty

Well January 2019 is just about in the record books - and it was both kind and cruel to my observation quests. The "big events" that I was interested in were the lunar eclipse on January 20th and the Venus-Jupiter-Luna alignment at month's end. It was kind in that the skies were indeed clear - but cruel in terms of the deep freeze one had to endure to witness them!

It seemed doubtful for a while that those of us in the mid-Atlantic would see the eclipse thanks to "Winter Storm Harper". (Seriously - we need names for these now? Apparently the NWS does not go along with the idea which is the brain child of the Weather Channel - you know, the folks who stand out there bringing you live coverage of catastrophic weather events, like this. But I digress with my disdain for hype). I happened to be a little NW of Baltimore at my son's in Waynesboro PA, and by the time Sunday rolled around it looked like it would be clear - but also bitterly cold and windy. It was too much to pack the scope but I figured the camera & tripod was worth a go.

I took a couple shots around 8pm through some high, thin clouds and then decided I'd just rest a bit after a busy day with my grandson. I startled awake at about 10:40 p.m. just in time to see the Earth's shadow having nibbled away at the Moon's edge. I could last about 5 minutes or so of taking shots before retreating into the home to warm up, leaving the camera outside tucked up against the house. Even with the tripod the wind ruined probably a third of my shots.

An overexposed eclipsed Moon with M44 to left

Just as totality began the battery on the camera signaled it was about done, further testimony to how cold it was. I brought it inside to change it out and as expected the lens immediately dewed over. I left it near a warm spot and popped on the wide field lens. It's definitely darker up in Waynesboro so I was fairly happy with the shots where I tried to include some of the fainter stars and the famous Beehive cluster. Then with the telephoto warmed up and ready for action again I swapped out lenses again and took some of the eclipsed Moon. I have not seen any official reports (or unofficial for that matter) but to me this was a fairly dark eclipse - perhaps a 2 on the Danjon scale as the deepest part of the shadow was grayer than the usual deep orange.

A rather dark eclipse?

By a little after 1 a.m. I abandoned any thoughts of eclipse egress photography - my grandson would be up in about 5 hours and I needed to be functional 😴

The second celestial highlight was the aforementioned appulse of Moon, Venus, and Jupiter. For several weeks I've admired the dance of Jupiter and Venus as old Jove slowly emerged from twilight to reach and then overtake the dazzling Venus. Those early morning January skies with the pair amid the stars of Scorpio were gorgeous - the combination of the winter transparency and the fewer lights made me literally stop and linger for a minute or two before climbing into the car to head off to work.

Venus & Jupiter mid-January

So with the waning crescent joining it was was time to grab the camera once more. But mother nature once again exacted a cold price with another Polar Vortex descending upon us (I'll let that piece of WC fluff slide...). Although technically colder than eclipse night the winds were not nearly as bad. That being said, it was a brief session admiring the alignment and grabbing a few quick shots before heading down the road.

So all in all January worked out just fine. After all, you can do something to fight off the cold, but with overcast skies you're just outta luck!

Venus - Moon - Jupiter January 31, 2019